It's Become a Habit
by thethirteenthcrow
Summary: Dante's yellow jacket used to do nothing more than keeping him warm. Occasionally, he lends it to someone else. The purpose of the jacket changed completely when that someone was Zhalia Moon.


_It's become a habit_, for Zhalia Moon to ask for Dante Vale's trademarked yellow jacket. It's always warm and so comfortable. And it smells like him. Kind of like a hug, but less intimate. My god, what Dante does to her is a feeling she had never felt before. He makes her feel warm, makes her blush and makes her feel safe. It's in the simple things, whenever he wraps an arm around her - what he's been doing more and more often, luckily - lends her his jacket and says he _trusts_ her, she feels safer than ever before. That jacket of his is magical, she noticed from the first time he wrapped it around her. That night was traumatizing, she had to say goodbye to her house in The Netherlands, whilst fighting off some annoying suits. She flew all the way to Venice to the only person she really found herself to trust: Dante Vale. He didn't ask questions, something Zhalia preferred. All he did was fetch his jacket to keep her warm, made a cup of hot tea for her and _almost_ kissed her. Almost, because Lok Lambert never learned how to knock on a door.

_It's become a habit_, for Zhalia Moon to simply pull on Dante's sleeve, silently hinting that she wants his jacket again. No words needed to be traded, he knew what she wanted. He could be in the middle of a conversation but when his blue-haired woman pulled his sleeve, he saw no need to even stop talking. He just took off his jacket and wrapped it around her. Sometimes it caused people to shoot them looks, but no one dared to ask. Lok and Sophie always liked it, because Zhalia seemed so insecure, like a little girl asking for her parents' attention. She would walk back and rejoin the group and no one would speak. They've grown used to it.

_It's become a habit,_ so much that Zhalia no longer pinched him. Dante just didn't have the chance to get his own jacket, but instead always found Zhalia wearing it. That happened more and more often, so Dante now always brought two of his jackets with him, wherever they went. He wouldn't let Zhalia know, of course, he loved seeing her in something that was his, but they didn't need to wear matched clothing either.

_It's become a habit,_ for Zhalia to stay at Dante's place, now that her home was gone. Zhalia never wanted to get in his way or be a nuisance, so she slept on the couch. It will forever remain a mystery to Dante how she went to sleep with a blanket, and how he woke up finding her using his jacket to keep her warm. _Would she have stolen one for herself?_

_It's become a habit, _for the two master Seekers to get closer than ever. Never had Zhalia let a man enter her life like how Dante did. His touch made her skin long for more and his voice was so hot, it ignited a flame within her. Her hips, in turn, swayed and Dante struggled not to hold her close, those lips always calling for his. But he couldn't be selfish and fulfil his dreams, while he would break all her barriers. If she wanted to go further, he'd be with her every step.  
Timing is everything, and timing is a bitch.  
They were closer and tried to hide it from Lok and Sophie, though at the same time they couldn't stop themselves. In turn, Lok and Sophie pretended not to notice anything different. When the two were alone for a change - for instance when Lok and Sophie went off training - Zhalia wasted no time to crawl into Dante's arms and Dante loved every second of it.

_It's become a habit,_ for Zhalia to wake Dante in the middle of the night because she had a nightmare - she wouldn't tell him what it was about and he let her. His intuition was to let her join him and she did. In his sleepy haze he forgot all about the barriers he preferred not to cross, so when she laid down next to him, he instinctively wrapped an arm around her, ready to go back to sleep. It worked, cause Zhalia felt safer than ever before and she fell asleep almost immediately.

_It's become a habit_, for the two Seekers to sleep in the same bed. Zhalia fell asleep faster than he could, so he always got himself to study every detail of her face, tracing her contours carefully with his fingers. It grew out to be a bigger challenge for him to restrain himself for kissing her, so instead, he let his lips softly brush over her forehead to kiss her goodnight. What he didn't know, however, is that Zhalia felt it, as a blush would colour her cheeks. A few days later, when they went to bed, Zhalia kissed him goodnight. It was soft, careful and almost reluctant. Dante was taken by surprise. He smiled and removed a strap of hair from her face, kissing her just as carefully as he normally would. He wished her sweet dreams.

_It's become a habit,_ for the two to kiss each other goodnight. Even when they were on missions, as Lok and Sophie would go to bed mere minutes before them, they always sought the chance to place a soft kiss on each other's lips. Though they both longed for more, it was quite alright for now. Until one mission, when they found themselves stranded together in the middle of the wilderness. Dante was out waiting for Lok but for some reason headed into what turned out to be the Girls' tent. Luckily, he only found Zhalia - Sophie must've gone off without him noticing - he smiled as he walked closer to her. He wasted no time and kissed her passionately, a real make-out for a change. He let his fingers ghost over her skin beyond her face and Zhalia dug her nails into the collar of his sweater, urging him closer. If it weren't for the upcoming voices, they probably would've gone far further. But in the end, they're glad they didn't.

_It's become a habit_, a natural turn of events if their kisses were passionate, tongues moving around and fingers tracing skin. Nails dug into fabric, fingers into skin. Heavy breathing would fill the room when the two - finally - moved apart. Lok and Sophie were forever wondering what caused it, but they were hesitant with asking questions, feeling that it was something intimate Dante and Zhalia would share then they felt like it was the right time. Dante would, he's less a private person than Zhalia, but he kept his secrets as well.  
Zhalia missed his warmth when he wasn't close enough, enjoyed falling asleep into his arms, but she wanted more. It was warm outside, and Dante had just come back from some standard grocery shopping when he came home to Zhalia standing in the middle of the living room. She leaned nonchalantly against one of the pillars, wearing his jacket again but for the first time fully closed. He raised an eyebrow, he hadn't seen her wearing his jacket this summer yet, it was too warm. And there was something about that look in her eyes... She greeted him, as he put the bags down. She came closer, walking seductively, causing Dante to struggled to keep his breathing steady. She kissed him, first tenderly but the heat rose quickly, Dante felt something about her silence intriguing, mysterious. They finally had time for themselves. Zhalia whispered into his ear that Lok, Sophie and Cherit went off to the library and would train afterwards. Dante smirked and let his fingers heat up the skin under his touch, on every place he could. Zhalia stopped him and said she wanted to show him something. She took a small step back, his hands still resting on her hips, slowly started to open up his jacket, from the collar to around her clavicle, revealing that she wore nothing underneath. Dante was more than happy to take the movement of her tender fingers over so he could undress her himself. He studied every visible part of her naked body thoroughly, and let his jacket fall to the ground. The smirk that only left his face for a moment, returned, wider than ever. He kissed her again, moved his hands around her hips and lift her up easily, walking them to _their_ bedroom. On their way, Zhalia let her fingers under his sweater and feel every curve of his rock hard abs and chest. She loved it, but got quickly bothered by the fabric, she removed his shirt and bit her lip. She could get used to that view. Dante smirked, happy to see that Zhalia appreciated his body as he loved hers. He laid her down on the bed, removing his pants and hovering over her. He kissed her, skillfully moving his hands from her jawline, to her breasts, to her hips. He neared her entrance and looked her in her eyes. She kissed him and let his fingers enter her. She moaned in response, stroking Dante's ego, as he took the chance to leave her mouth and start abusing her neck instead. He felt her fingers entangled in his hair, pulling every now and then.  
Dante's fingers left her as she came, quickly getting himself a condom from his nightstand. He kissed her tenderly, about to wrap the latex cover around himself, but she stopped him in the process, stealing it from him. She saw the chance to touch him _there_ before he would enter her. The blue-haired wrapped the condom around his member moved her hands to his shoulder blades and kissed him shortly once more. He smirked and felt her nails dig deep into the flesh that covered his shoulders. She covered her hickeys with her scarf, he covered her nailmarks with his sweater.

_It's become a habit,_ for Dante to come home and see Zhalia wearing his jacket. He knew what would come. The two wasted no time jumping each others' bones as soon as they made eye contact. They made a list of places - mostly in Dante's house but they had too little shame to avoid having sex in public - of where these two had done it. The bedroom, kitchen (table _and_ counter), bathroom (shower _and_ bath), living room (literally anywhere you can think of), study, ground, etcetera etcetera. They just couldn't get enough of each other. Not only trying different places, but also different ways and attributes.

Therefore,  
_It's become a habit,_ for Dante to mentally undress Zhalia every time she wore his jacket. This was one thing she never stopped doing, that specific garment was hers now, in a way. Whenever she was cold, Dante was away or simply not close enough, Zhalia stole his jacket to have a part of him with her regardless. Dante was always slightly distracted when he saw his girl walking around in his jacket, the way it hung loosely around her shoulder and how it hugged her hips. He was having struggles not to lead her to someplace a bit more private and just take her there. He managed, though barely, to refrain himself from doing that, exposing their secret to everyone around. This time, Lok, Sophie and even Cherit noticed how Dante would lose his line of thought - whatever he may have been discussing, the plan, the mission, titans or legends - whenever Zhalia passed by. They noticed how his eyes would roam over her curves, a smirk shyly filling his cheeks. Zhalia usually snapped him out of trance and stood seductively close to him as he put his hands on her hips, continuing where he left off.  
It took several weeks, several missions before Sophie had enough of it. She shouted out her frustration and demanded an explanation for the changes between the two Top Seekers. They laughed, told Sophie they got together - Dante did, while Zhalia didn't dare to give it a name yet. It calmed her to hear how confident he spoke as if they'd discussed this already. She didn't mind, no, instead, she casually walked over to him to sit on his lap. Every question Sophie and Lok tried to ask, was answered very vaguely, they were very secretive. Maybe for the better, before they scared the teenagers off with their stories and experiences.

_It's become a habit,_ for young Lok and Sophie to see Zhalia and Dante together more often and closer than ever before. They loved to see the two friends together, how they cared about each other, the jokes and flirtiness and the smirks. But most of all, how they changed just a bit.

_It's become a habit,_ for Zhalia and Dante to keep using his yellow jacket. Whether it was to keep her warm or to turn him on, it was always there, connecting them, heating the two up.

Though, usually, it ended up discarded on the ground.


End file.
